The Government of the Russian Federation is taking the necessary measures to enhance the stability of the banking system, Mr Shuvalov said. The Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending has been allocated 60 billion roubles to refinance loans issued earlier. "We should revise the criteria and methods of refinancing mortgage loans so that the people who have taken out mortgages do not suffer," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.

During a visit to the future residential compound of the Pacific Fleet, where more than 1,200 modern flats are to be built in the next two years, Mr Shuvalov touched on the topic of building residential stock for the military. The problem is particularly acute in the Far East, the First Deputy Prime Minister said. "The Government's task is to provide decent living conditions here for servicemen and their families. That would encourage the officers to stay in the Far East after they retire," Mr Shuvalov said.

In Vladivostok the First Deputy Prime Minister visited several construction sites of facilities that are being built for the 2012 APEC summit. "This is not my first visit to Vladivostok and I see a positive dynamic. Construction is going ahead, and the facilities which until recently were only on paper are being built," Mr Shuvalov stressed.

The facilities planned for the APEC Summit in Vladivostok will be financed fully and in a timely manner, he said. "The President and the Prime Minister have decided not to cut the funding for the facilities that are necessary for the development of the city," the First Deputy Prime Minister stressed.

Mr Shuvalov also visited a number of educational institutions. In his opinion, the Far Eastern Federal University should become the most modern research and education centre in the east of the country. It will use state-of-the-art concepts of teaching and organisation of research work. Already, along with creating the material basis of the university, ground-breaking new curricula are being designed. The construction of the Federal University will begin in the summer, Mr Shuvalov said.

He said that the projects of the preparation for the summit and the creation of the Far Eastern Federal University are the main anti-crisis measures for Vladivostok and the whole Primorye Territory.